shopping in the hamptons
Whispers & Breezes, Photo By Justin Bernhaut, October 2007
- Hamptons Shops
- In early fall, the East End of Long Island, NY, sheds its flashy summer crowds and becomes beguilingly quiet. Prime time to meander through streets lined with home shops and handmade objects. Decorator Rita Konig leads the way.
- Battle Iron & Bronze
- 112 Maple Lane
Bridgehampton
(631) 537-2193 This is one of those instances where someone's name is totally perfect for his trade. John Battle's ironworks looks like a medieval cellar. Not an ideal place to go shopping, because there isn't really stock, but Battle is a valuable resource when you want to commission custom railings, gates, andirons or just about anything made from metal. If you've always been stumped as to where you would begin to have a design made, here's your man.
- Bloom
- 43 Madison Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-5940 Mona Nerenberg has an immaculately styled selection of tabletop and bath accessories (wonderful linens!), plus some furniture. This is a store that makes you want to chuck everything you own and start over. Much of the stock is in shades of white and blue—antique furniture mixed in with fantastic ceramics, including local artist Mae Mougin's "paper" plates. Her line is called M.A.E. (for morning, afternoon and evening), representing each meal. We have never managed to leave without a bag in hand.
- Celadon—A Clay Art Gallery
- 41 Old Mill Road
Water Mill
(631) 726-2547 Mae Mougin (see Bloom) took us here on the way to visit her studio. This sweet, tiny gallery is full of hand-thrown pottery, with a workshop space and a kiln at the back that are available for local artisans to use. It's an excellent place for Christmas presents. There was plenty else to choose from: simple mugs, earthenware (which grouped looked quite chic) and white breakfast china.
- Christy's Art and Design
- 3 Madison Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-7000 You might overlook this shop, since the sign is set back a little. But if you're searching for salvage, you musn't miss it. Owners Michael and Elsie Eicke, an elegant German couple, offer a distinct collection of antique carved-wood fireplaces—all classical in design but with the paint stripped to reveal the delicate craftmanship. Upstairs are rooms of reclaimed wood paneling, while out back is a workshop. It's an architect's paradise.
- Glenn Horowitz Bookseller
- 87 Newton Lane
East Hampton
(631) 324-5511 Amid the brand-name East Hampton meccas is this fabulous bookstore. In an unexpectedly large, airy modern building, it's the opposite of a dusty, antique throwback, but it's key for browsing a huge selection of rare vintage and first-edition art and design books. Horowitz is a highly regarded, knowledgeable dealer, having been in the business for about 30 years, and the shop doubles as a gallery, with some cool exhibitions.
- JED
- 27 Washington Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-6411 Interior designer Jack Deamer came from L.A. a couple of years ago and set up shop next door to Ruby Beets. Oil paintings and antlers on the walls bestow a handsome, library look. Deamer lends his original eye as curator and alterer. Last I was there, he had covered a sofa in red PVC and the seat of a Biedermeier-ish chair with deerskin. The aesthetic is wonderfully hard to pinpoint—it seems he buys what he likes, rather than hew to a specific period or style.
- Mecox Bay Dairy
- 855 Mecox Road
Water Mill
(631) 537-0335 Venture down a few windy roads to get to this beautifully muddy farm, with cows in the field, geese roaming past an old car with its hood up and a basketball hoop—all perfectly dilapidated. The farm belongs to Art and Stacy Ludlow (see Cavaniola's Gourmet), another old Long Island family. There are two large barns, one filled with farm equipment and the other where Art sells his cheeses. How great is it to buy some 100 feet from the cow it came from?
- Neo-Studio and Reuben Home on Consignment
- 25 Madison Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-6160 (Reuben)
(631) 725-6478 (Neo) Further up the street, two Colonials share a porch: Neo-Studio and Reuben. Neo, owned by Jean-Yves Legrand, is great if you're after lighting—from a pair of white glazed-pottery urn lamps to unexpected ceiling fixtures and wall sconces. Next door, Reuben Shapiro presides over a broad, more masculine selection of mostly 20th-century pieces.
- Ruby Beets
- 25 Washington Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 899-3275 Always our number-one stop, this store is located on a side street leading to the main drag. Its old and new product range includes farmhouse tables and slightly rusted metal baskets, muslin-upholstered George Sherlock sofas and Serge Mouille lamps. I find this shop ideal for finishing touches for a home—wood-framed mirrors, simple oil still lifes, and one-of-a-kind pieces.
- Sag Harbor Antique Shop
- 17 Madison Street
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-1732 Fabulously tanned and weather-beaten John Krug looks like he should be helming a boat down in the harbor rather than this antique shop, which he has owned since 1964. And don't be fooled by the mass of seemingly brown furniture when you first peer through the door: There are treasures to be found.
- The Milk Pail
- 36 West Broughton Street
(912) 232-1500 A line of vintage cars on the side of the road in front of an auto-repair shop signals you are getting near our favorite stop. This farm store at the edge of a peach orchard is owned by Amy, Jennifer, Evelyn and John Halsey, members of one of the few remaining Hamptons farming families. Apples are displayed by variety in paper bags and wooden crates. You can send boxes to friends, and buy hot doughnuts to snack on—small and wonderfully indulgent, they come in waxed-paper bags, the ultimate in unconscious chic.
- Whispers & Breezes
- 43 Madison Street
(back cottage)
Sag Harbor
(631) 725-9422 Basically a luxurious garden shed at the back of a Bloom, this haphazard collection of country brocante (French for bric-à-brac) is housed in a small, whitewashed hut. It's worth popping in for a quick dig around, as quite often there are lovely mercury vases, old wire garden stands and china pieces.
